Door-latch.



No. 697,306. Patented Apr. 8, I902.

w. H. WILSEY.

DOOR LATCH.

(Application filed Jan. 6, 1902.

(N0 Mudel.)

Jiwenfor Willl'awaflli 6y WAW.

WILLIAM H. l/VILSEY, OF SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

DOOR -LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 697,306, dated April 8, 1902.

Application filed January 6, 1902.

To whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. WILsEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sioux City, in the county of Woodbury and State of Iowa, have invented new and useful Improvements in Door-Latches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to door-latches, and while the invention is in no wise limited to use in any particular field I have found the latch to be of particular advantage in connection with sliding doors, and it is so shown in Letters Patent No. 693,936, granted to me on February 25, 1902, and to which reference may be had.

The invention includes, in connection with a door, a bar mounted on the door for turning movement and a yieldable latch for engaging the bar to hold the door shut, and in the present instance the latch consists of a spring adapted normally to engage the bar in proximity to a shoulder thereon. The bar is preferably spring-actuated, the spring when the bar is actuated by hand in one direction serving to return the same to its normal position, and said bar has means for engaging the yieldable latch and for putting the same into its inefiective position upon the manipulation of the bar.

The invention includes other advantageous features, which, with the foregoing, will be disclosed in detail in the following description, while the novelty will be set forth in the claims succeeding said description; but I desire at this point to state that the invention is not limited to the exact disclosure hereby made, for many modifications may be adopted without deviating from the scope of my claims.

The invention in one simple and convenient embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a sectional plan View of a door and my improved latching means in connection therewith, the door being shown as closed. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the door open. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective View of a portion of the door and coacting latching mechanism As previously stated, the invention is not Serial No. 88,617. (No model.)

limited to any particular use, although the latching mechanism has been found to be of considerable utility in connection with sliding doors, and one of such a type is shown at 5, it being adapted to normally close an opening in the wall 6, the door being suitably supported for sliding movement across its opening. The door may be opened and closed by hand, or these operations can be secured automatically, although the mechanism for obtaining the last-named function is not represented, as it forms no part of the present invention. A horizontally-disposed bracket or flange, as 7, extends entirely across the door and projects beyond the same at one side, herein shown as the left, said bracket or ledge being located at a suitable height and constituting a convenient support for the locking-bar 8. Said bar 8 is encircled by bearings, as 9, which may consist of eyes or staples suitably secured to the bracket and in which the locking-bar rotates, said guides or eyes being fitted in peripheral grooves, as 10, in the rotary bar, to thereby prevent endwise movement of the bar. The said lockingbar projects at one end beyond the bracket or flange 7, such projection being shown at the left and as having a fiat face 11 and a shoulder 12 at the inner end of said fiat face. The free end of the yieldable latch, as 13, is adapted normally to bear against this fiat face and against or in proximity to the outer face of the shoulder 12, it being thereby understood that the free end of the latch is disposed in the path of said shoulder, to thereby hold the door shut. Said latch is shown as consisting of an elongated and approximately Vertically disposed stiff spring having a transverse base or foot suitably secured to the wall (3 or other fixed part in proximity to the door.

The rotary locking-bar Shas at the extreme end of the projecting portion thereof a perpendicular or right angular extension 14, which when said bar is turned is adapted to engage the upper and free end of the springlatch 13 and acting as a crank to push said free end out of the path of the shoulder 12, so that the door can be opened, The turning locking-bar 8 has at or near the end opposite that provided with the angular extension 14: the handle 15, by which said bar can be readily manipulated,and said bar normally occupies a position with said handle in contact with a lug 16 on the door 5, this relation being positively maintained by a coiled spring, as 17, encircling the reduced portion 18 of the bar 8 and connected, respectively, with said bar and its support or bracket 7. WVith the latch in its efiective position, as hereinbefore described, it becomes necessary to secure the release of the door. To do this, the handle 15 is grasped and swung down, thereby moving the extension 14 in the corresponding direction, and said extension will thrust the upper or free end of the springlatch 13 outward and away from the path of the shoulder 12, so that the door can be freely opened. When the bar is turned in the manner described, the coiled spring 17 is placed under tension, so that the instant the bar is released it is promptly returned to its primary position, with the handle 15 in contact with the lug 16, by said spring.

In some cases it is desirable to hold the latch in its ineffective position while the door is open, and the bracket or flange 7 serves to secure this result. What is shown as the left end of the bracket or flange 7 has a camface, which is represented as being beveled and which when the door is slid openis adapted to ride in contact with the upper end of the spring-latch, and thereafter the straight outer face of the bracket running longitudinally thereof is brought into contact with said latch, so as to hold the same in its outer position. In the use hereinbefore mentioned this outer position of the latch is utilized for locking the controller of an elevator-car, as shown in Letters Patent No. 693,936, safety device for elevators, dated February 25, 1902, to which reference may be had, although I do not deem it at all necessary to show the same in the drawings. When the door has reached its fully-closed position, the latch by its i11- herent action will spring into contact with the flat face 11 of the locking-bar, so as to again hold the door.

Having described the invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination of a door, a bar mounted on said door for turning movement, a handle for operating the bar, means independent of the handle for positively turning the bar,

and a latch for engaging the bar to hold the door shut. V

2. The combination of a door, a spring-actuated bar mounted on said door for turning movement, a latch for engaging the bar to hold the door shut, and means for turning the bar in opposition to its actuating-spring.

3. The combination of a door, a bar mounted on said door for turning movement, and a spring constituting a latch for engaging the bar to hold the'door shut.

4E. The combination of a door, a bar mounted on the door for turning movement, a handle for operating the bar, means independent of the handle for positively turning the bar, a latch for engaging the bar to hold the door shut, and means upon the bar for putting the latch into its ineffective position.

5. The combination of a door, a bar mounted on said door, a yieldable latch for engaging the bar to hold the door shut, a transverse extension upon the bar for actuating the-latch, and means upon the bar for manually turning the same.

6. The combination of a door, a bracket upon the door, a bar mounted upon the bracket, for turning movement, a spring encircling the bar and connected thereto and also to the bracket, a yieldable latch for engaging the bar, and means upon the bar for actuating said latch.

7. The combination of a door having a lug, a bar mounted on the door for turning movement and having a handle, means for normally holding the handle in contact with the lug, a yieldable latch for engaging the bar to hold the door shut, and means operative with said bar for actuating the latch.

8. The combination of a door, a bar mounted on the door for turning movement and having a reduced portion, a coiled spring surrounding said reduced portion and connected to said bar and also to a fixed member, a yieldable latch for engaging the bar, and means on said bar for moving the latch into a position to release the door.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM H. WILSEY. Witnesses:

WILLIAM CHAFFEE, O. W. TAYLOR. 

